Miroirs: Dutilleux; Liszt
Jonas Vitaud
NoMadMusic NMM028 (nomadmusic.fr)
Miroirs is a solo piano album of Romantic and 20th-century repertoire by French pianist Jonas Vitaud that stems, in part, from his work with Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013) at the Cordes-sur-Ciel festival in 2004.
The CD immediately transports us into harmonically adventurous worlds with Liszt’s Angelus, Klavierstück, Valse oubliée, Nuages gris and Dutilleux’s three Preludes: D’ombre et de silence, Sur un même accord, Le jeu des contraires (1973-1988). However, Vitaud has changed the order of the pieces and interjects a Dutilleux prelude between each of Liszt’s four late compositions. His rationale is to show parallels between the works written by these two very different composers, with Vitaud describing Liszt as a prolific virtuoso and Dutilleux as “a composer of the night.” The reordering may be confusing for a listener who is not following along with the liner notes, however Vitaud consistently conveys an acute awareness of harmonic colour and masterfully presents works that are not performed as often as they should be.
The album gradually leads to Liszt’s virtuoso Mephisto Waltz before closing with Dutilleux’s musically and technically complex Piano Sonata Op.1 (1948). Dutilleux consciously defied classification and rejected a number of 20th-century compositional idioms while expanding elements of the Impressionist tradition. Many of his compositions are refined and deeply moving, such as the Choral et variations, the final movement in the piano sonata, which Vitaud delivers superbly. Particularly impressive is Vitaud’s ability to convey strength without harshness even in the most technically difficult passages, resulting in an innovative and beautifully performed CD, released to coincide with Dutilleux’s centenary.
